credit crisis – News Stories About credit crisis - Page 15

Bear Stearns Jumps on Hope for Higher JPMorgan Bid

Mar 18, 2008 5:03 PM CDT

Bear Stearns Jumps on Hope for Higher JPMorgan Bid

Likely stockholder holdout drives spike

(Newser) - Bear Stearns shares jumped 23% today on hopes that stockholders will reject JPMorgan's bailout offer in favor of a higher offer, Bloomberg reports. The surge moved the price to nearly three times the current value of the fire-sale bid, which one major stockholder termed "derisory." "There's every...

Credit Crunch
Slows Spending

Mar 18, 2008 11:10 AM CDT

Credit Crunch Slows Spending

Consumers, businesses tighten belts just as economy needs fuel

(Newser) - Fewer credit card offers, tougher mortgage requirements, and a slowdown in business expansion all are likely because of the worsening credit crisis, reports the Washington Post. Banks are looking to limit exposure to high-risk customers and restore their own bottom lines. And that’s tough medicine for an economy that’...

Fed 'Will Get on Top of This,' Says Bernanke Mentor

Mar 18, 2008 10:35 AM CDT

Fed 'Will Get on Top of This,' Says Bernanke Mentor

Scope 'far exceeds' that of previous crises

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke has the savvy to inject enough liquidity into the US economy to push it through the current credit crisis, says a leading economist who advised the Fed chief's MIT doctoral thesis. “The Fed will get on top of this,” said Stanley Fischer, ahead of this afternoon's...

Goldman Drops 53%,
Beats Analysts' Estimates

Earnings Report

Mar 18, 2008 7:54 AM CDT

Goldman Drops 53%, Beats Analysts' Estimates

Giant brokerage writes off $2.1 billion, sees revenues fall 35%

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs today beat analysts' dire predictions even though it reported a 53% drop in first-quarter profits—the worst falloff since 1999—after a $2.1 billion writeoff, reports Bloomberg. Analysts had expected the Wall Street brokerage to see profits drop more than 60%. Goldman said net income was $1....

Retail Sales
Sank in
February

Mar 13, 2008 9:15 AM CDT

Retail Sales Sank in February

Surprise drop, after January rise, stokes slowdown fears

(Newser) - Stoking fears of recession, US retail sales fell in February by .6%, the Wall Street Journal reports, despite economists' predictions of a 0.1% increase. Sales had been up a revised 0.4% in January. Factors cited in the decline include rising gas prices, falling home values, the credit crunch,...

Carlyle Near Collapse After Defaulting
on $16B

Mar 13, 2008 7:31 AM CDT

Carlyle Near Collapse After Defaulting on $16B

Big banks put screws to overextended fund

(Newser) - Carlyle Capital announced overnight that it is defaulting on $16.6 billion in debt, and its creditors are likely to take possession of its remaining assets. The latest casualty of the credit catastrophe is a major embarrassment for Carlyle Group, the private equity firm whose executives own 15% of the...

Fed Pours $200B Into Global Credit Relief Push

Mar 11, 2008 10:15 AM CDT

Fed Pours $200B Into Global Credit Relief Push

Central banks around the world try to ease liquidity problem

(Newser) - The Fed will inject huge quantities of cash into financial markets as part of a coordinated global attack on the credit crisis, Ben Bernanke announced today. The central bank will loan out another $200 billion, this time on a 28-day basis rather than overnight, the AP reports. The effort will...

Commercial
Real Estate Will Slow, Not Tank

Mar 10, 2008 9:18 AM CDT

Commercial Real Estate Will Slow, Not Tank

Malls, offices won't be hit nearly as hard as housing, experts say

(Newser) - The commercial real estate market has slowed dramatically, but won’t rival the housing implosion, reports the Wall Street Journal. Prices will likely fall just 20%, compared with 40%-plus for homes in some markets, and commercial property owners—unlike record numbers of homeowners facing foreclosure—have largely been able to...

Asian Stock Markets Dive

Mar 7, 2008 6:07 AM CST

Asian Stock Markets Dive

US credit crisis has investors in Asian markets hedging their bets

(Newser) - Japan’s Nikkei fell 3.3% and Australia’s S&P/ASX2000 dropped 3.2% as woeful US economic news—including rising foreclosures, worsening homeowner debt and impending credit defaults—sent Asian markets reeling, the Associated Press reports. Investors also worried that a key jobs report to be released this morning...

Foreclosures Soar in Q4

Mar 6, 2008 1:55 PM CST

Foreclosures Soar in Q4

Borrowers' poor credit, not rate resets, blamed for latest spike

(Newser) - Home foreclosures and mortgage delinquency in the US saw record highs in the last three months of 2007. Reuters reports that 0.83% of US loans entered foreclosure in the fourth quarter, close to double the 0.54% of the same period in 2006. Mortgage delinquency hit 5.82%, the...

US in Recession Now: Buffett

Mar 4, 2008 3:28 AM CST

US in Recession Now: Buffett

Billionaire says crisis is already here

(Newser) - The US is already in a recession for all practical purposes, even if economic conditions haven't yet met the technical definition of at least two consecutive quarters of negative growth. That's the verdict of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who tells CNBC that a serious economic slowdown is obvious in reports...

Credit Crunch Ups Price of College Loans

Mar 3, 2008 2:40 PM CST

Credit Crunch Ups Price of College Loans

Federal, private lenders will raise rates, increase rejections

(Newser) - Even as college costs soar, the credit crunch is about to make student loans more expensive—and tougher to come by. Fees for federally guaranteed loans, which offer below-market rates, are expected to rise, and some states have dropped out of the program. At least a dozen private firms have...

United Tech Makes $3B Bid for Diebold

Mar 3, 2008 3:30 AM CST

United Tech Makes $3B Bid for Diebold

Deal would expand UTC's footprint in electronic security business

(Newser) - United Technologies is bidding $3 billion for Diebold, one of the largest manufacturers of ATMs and voting machines. The unsolicited bid is $40 per share, a 66% premium over Diebold’s closing stock price Friday of $24.12, reports the New York Times. The deal would provide an opportunity for...

AIG Posts
$5.2B Loss
on Writedown

Feb 28, 2008 5:49 PM CST

AIG Posts $5.2B Loss on Writedown

Giant insurer takes $11B charge on mortgage woes

(Newser) - Today's after-hours bad news from the credit-crunch front comes from insurer AIG, which reported a fourth-quarter loss of $5.29 billion after taking an $11 billion writedown on mortgage-related insurance contracts, the Wall Street Journal reports. The loss amounts to $2.08 per share; American International Group turned a profit...

Stocks Flat After Roller Coaster

MARKETS

Feb 27, 2008 3:21 PM CST

Stocks Flat After Roller Coaster

Market buffeted by more ugly data, soothing Bernanke testimony

(Newser) - Stocks ended mainly flat after mixed news had indices seesawing throughout today's session, the Wall Street Journal reports. Economic news was bad in general, but Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and housing regulators cheered the markets with upbeat comments. The Dow ended up 9.36 to 12,694.28, the...

Home Prices Decline Across Country

Feb 26, 2008 10:38 AM CST

Home Prices Decline Across Country

8.9% declines posted for fourth quarter in 10 biggest markets

(Newser) - Home prices in the top 10 metro areas slumped 8.9% over the previous year, the largest decline in 20 years, according to the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller price index, released today. "Wherever you look things look bleak," one economist tells the Wall Street Journal, noting that declines...

Feds Brace
for a Wave of
Bank Failures

Feb 26, 2008 7:13 AM CST

Feds Brace for a Wave of Bank Failures

FDIC hires extra staff to help with boost in 'problem' banks

(Newser) - Federal regulators are gearing up for as many as 100 bank failures in the next year—the most since the savings and loan crisis that saw more than 1,000 S&Ls go belly up in the ’80s and ’90s—as the subprime contagion continues to decimate the...

Families Swap Houses to Beat Slow Market

Feb 21, 2008 6:43 PM CST

Families Swap Houses to Beat Slow Market

Buyers and sellers are turning to an unusual alternative

(Newser) - Struggling with a troubled housing market, some would-be sellers are opting for a novel solution: trading houses. The strategy is nothing drastic, ABC News reports—in separate transactions, two families sell their homes to each other. Buyers say the downside is reduced selection—but it can be convenient, and it...

Bernanke Suggests Rate Cuts Ahead

Feb 14, 2008 9:20 AM CST

Bernanke Suggests Rate Cuts Ahead

Fed chief sees threats from employment, housing, credit

(Newser) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled today that further interest rate cuts might be necessary, citing continuing fallout from the credit and housing market collapses, reports the Wall Street Journal. Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee he expected "a period of sluggish growth, followed by a somewhat stronger pace...

Bush Signs $168B Stimulus Plan

Feb 13, 2008 2:30 PM CST

Bush Signs $168B Stimulus Plan

First rebates from 'booster shot for our economy' to be mailed in May

(Newser) - President Bush signed Congress’ economic stimulus bill into law today, ensuring that the tax rebates at the heart of the $168 billion plan will find their way into American bank accounts by May. The average rebate for an individual will be $600, with $1,200 for couples and a $300...